Boatwright won seven Israeli championships, six State Cups, as well as two European championships, before announcing his retirement in 1981.

Former Maccabi Tel Aviv captain Jim Boatwright passed away Monday in Hailey,
Idaho, after a short battle with liver cancer. He was 61 years old.

The
Rupert, Idaho, native joined Maccabi in the 1974/75 season after four years at
Utah State University, leading the team in scoring as a junior and
senior.

The elegant 2.01-meter forward played for Maccabi for the next
seven seasons, helping it to the European title in 1977 and captaining the side
to its second continental championship in 1981.

Boatwright won seven
Israeli championships, six State Cups, as well as two European championships,
before announcing his retirement in 1981.

The sharp-shooter scored 2,373
points for Maccabi in local league action and still ranks 10th all-time among
yellow-and-blue players with 1,481 points in European
competition.

However, Boatwright will be remembered especially for his
gift of showing up on the big occasion.

He scored 18 points in Maccabi’s
unforgettable win over CSKA Moscow in Virton, Belgium in 1977 and was the team’s
top scorer with 26 points in the European final against Varese later that
year.

Boatwright also played 25 times for the Israel national team after
receiving citizenship, scoring 348 points for the blue-andwhite and helping it
to a sixth-place finish in the 1981 European Championships.

Boatwright’s
death came just four days after another Maccabi great, Howie Lassoff, passed
away at the age of 57, also from cancer.

Lassoff played for the US team
in the 10th Maccabiah Games in 1977 and joined Hapoel Haifa the following
year.

The Philadelphian-Jew, who became a proud Israeli citizen, joined
Maccabi in 1981 and played for the team for six seasons, winning six Israeli
championships and five State Cups, while also taking part in two European
finals.

He scored 1,365 points in his time with the team before moving on
to play for Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem, among others, eventually
retiring in 1993.

Lassoff also became an integral part of the national
team in the 1980’s, amassing 99 appearances for the blueand- white, a record for
a nationalized player, and scoring 960 points.